Shoot'em Up! / Shoot'em Up! - Space Invaders · 1982

Bandits

Published by Sirius Software · Developed by [n/a]

atarimania.com — atari-400-800-xl-xe-games-bandits-492

Information

Genre: Shoot'em Up! - Space Invaders
Language: Machine Language
Controls: Joystick
Players: 1, Demo
Programmer(s): Ngo, Tony, Ngo, Benny
Graphic Artist(s): [n/a]
Sound: [n/a]
Cover Artist(s): [unknown]
Year: 1982
Publisher: Sirius Software
Developer: [n/a]
Country: USA
License: Commercial
Medium: Disk
Rarity: 8
Serial: -

Votes / Statistics

Rating: 7.9/10 · Votes: 54 · Downloads: 3,232 · Hits: 14,854

Screenshots (5)

Cover Art (3)

Instructions (4)

Ads (2)

Book / Magazine Reviews (1)

Electronic Fun · June, 1983 · Rating: 4 / 4

Okay, so at first it looks like just another Space Invaders-type shoot-em-up, but first glance is very deceiving. Right from the start there are differences, what with the innovative and humorous graphics of the spaceship gantry crane moving off the launching pad and an enemy saucer ship appearing. The object of the invaders, in addition to destroying your ground-based shooter, is to steal the five pieces of fruit on the Earth at the right of the screen.

There are several Bandits-inspired games such as Activision's new Spider Fighter. No matter. This one is the original and is both fun and funny. The shots you get off at the invading bandits don't sound like anti-aircraft missiles, they sound like someone blowing hard bubbles under a mountain of peanut butter. But laughs aside, Bandits is hard to learn and takes a lot of practice.

Your ship can use shields for protection but the shield uses up the fuel supply at a prodigious clip. The first screen of thieving invaders has three attacking waves. Get through them all and you graduate to a screen full of bouncing balloons called Nuisants that are trying to do you in. Get past this screen and you have to contend with the Torrents - Centipede-like invaders who also try to do you in and steal your fruit.

The one thing I don't like is the length of time it takes to start a new game. A lot of the program has to reload from the disk, which can take 10 to 15 seconds. But the game is definitely worth the wait.

Comments (4)

the big m — 25 Aug 2023
What an amazing game! Designed originally for the Apple computers, Bandits is a clone of TAITO's Stratovox. Beginning is full of clever bits of animation and sound effects. The gameplay is awesomely super fast! C64 version is good but not in the same league. Recommended!
Justin — 12 Jan 2018
I LOVED this game back in the day! Just cool graphics and desgin and I loved the sounds...like the sort of farting sounds the aliens made...so cool to finally find it after wondering what the game was for years. Your site is terrific! Thanks!
Jim Kuchera — 11 Mar 2007
Bandits is an outstanding shooter where the alien 'little buggers' are great at dodging your best attempts to zap 'em. I love Bandits---the sound, the wonderfully smooth graphics, the premise of stealing your fruit, etc. My only beef is that every single level, like Jumpman (another of my favorites) is a pain. This great little game will surely become one of your favorites, and it was released by one of the best software houses of all time---Broderbund. At the time of release, the other great houses were OnLine, Sirius, Synapse, Infocom, Dataquest. Electronics Arts was not yet with us, but was to become The Great One along with Sierra.
Spiff — 17 Oct 2005
This game was inspired by a mediocre arcade game of the era called "Stratovox"- but they improved it a hundredfold to make it one of the best games on the Atari. You must protect various supplies from being stolen by aliens. The sounds, colors, and graphics are spectacular.